


Among the Ocean of Stars

by ctrl_issue



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, M/M, Outer Space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-12
Updated: 2012-06-12
Packaged: 2017-11-07 13:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/431623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ctrl_issue/pseuds/ctrl_issue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny Williams just got assigned a case that’s about to change his life aboard the Space Station Oahu. He’s not so sure it’s for the better, either. Steve McGarrett just lost his father. He's about to gain a whole lot more.</p><p>Alternatively titled: In Space, No One Can Hear You Yell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Among the Ocean of Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Pre-Slash. This is basically a re-write of the first episode with a sci-fi twist because I thought it'd be fun.

**Title** : Among The Ocean Of Stars  
 **Author** : ctrl_issue  
 **Fandom** : Hawaii Five-Oh! Space AU!!  
 **Disclaimer** : I do not own Hawaii Five-Oh or any other material that might belong to others.  
 **Pairing** : Steve/Danno  
 **Word Count** : 11,260 for this chapter  
 **Synopsis** : Danny Williams just got assigned a case that’s about to change his life aboard the Space Station _Oahu_. He’s not so sure it’s for the better, either.  
 **Author’s Note** : Beta’d by the lovely HarryCrewe. Edited after and posted, so any and all errors spotted are mine.

 

-=5-0=-

 

When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere. – Robert A. Heinlein.

 

-=Chapter 01 – In Space, No One Can Hear You Yell=-

 

There were six hundred square miles of livable, breathable space for humanoids that made up _Oahu_ Station, not including the rock and metal and plastic used to create it and bring it to life from the dead husk of a hulled out asteroid, or the thousands of square miles of water that had been excavated from the asteroids and captured in tubes to create several rivers and one giant ocean. Including a beach. A damn beach. While Danny had not had the time or the inclination to investigate and explore every square inch of those six hundred square miles, he knew he hated them all. Each and every square inch.

Because people like him weren’t supposed to be hunkered down in floating rocks that the locals tried to terra-farm from the inside. No, people like him were supposed to be aboard nice, reliable ships that traveled between planets with their nice and reliable temperature controlled environments and nice and reliable resource-renewal systems.

And yet, here Danny was, acting as a Security Officer Detective -- oh-no, scratch that, Station Security Agent Inspector -- in a place he despised among Station Security Agents who despised him in equal measure. He had to deal with irrational locals, the four different type of aliens that inhabited local star-systems that were constantly either trying to make war with each other or slumming it in the lower decks, unreliable environmental controls, unreliable resource containment, unreliable filtration methods for air AND water, suspected unreliable fellow officers of the law, corruption in just about every direction within the merchant halls, not to mention his ex-wife and her out-for-blood attorney. Worst, though, worst by a long shot was that the main thing that thrived in _Oahu_ ’s largest terra-forming cavern was pineapple plants. Really. Pineapples. Who even ATE pineapples?

About the only thing that gave Danny any half-inch of happiness, and actually that happiness measured about four foot worth of outright joy, was his daughter. He’d already picked her up from her ex-wife’s ‘estate’ earlier this morning, while arguing with the techs about getting a wire tap for a suspected gun-runner. And wasn’t it a sign of his new working environment that he had to ARGUE with them even though he had a warrant? But it wasn’t out of the ordinary for the roadblocks he had experienced since arriving to this pineapple infested hell-hole. 

Danny might not have liked it, but Gracie was here and she seemed happy with what life had to offer her on the station. It was for her that he had moved to this ecological disaster of a station, and that was only so he could see her every other weekend and pick her up from school once a week. No matter what case he was working, he always, always, always made sure that he made those appointments. Of course, he was diligent in all areas of his life; in fact that was one of his problems when it came to being married – he tended to want to give more diligence to his cases than his ex thought they warranted when there were other pressing matters of society to contend with – but he had learned how to put his cases to the side to focus solely on his daughter for the short time he had her.

Danny rubbed his gloved hands along his arms, as the coldness in the air was ratcheted to a degree that was distinctly uncomfortable. The morgue was the only place he’d found with even remotely cool temperatures, but it went from tropically humid outside to out-right freezing inside. There were Aqua-tubes lining two of the walls, and several of the tropical fish that so many of the Horont’kini and Felidixes loved swam through them, heading to parts unknown. He was still getting used to the scenes that he could see along the motorways. Aboard the _Newark_ , one of the older model freighter and craftsman ships, it was a few hours in any and every direction to get to see the stars. He often could stand there, as if the ship were standing as still as him, and watch the stars passing them by like streaks of light that just blurred together in never ending lines. Sure, it was really him moving and not the stars, but it allowed him to feel as if he were part of the constantly moving universe. Here, the stars were all the same, just random pinpoints in utter blackness. 

It just… it just reminded him that he was on his own out here in this damned asteroid station. 

Which brought him back to the morgue. On the cold steel slab in front of him rested the still form of a retired cop and former Station Security Agent, a Mr. John McGarrett. Mr. McGarrett was another man who seemed to have lived the later years of his life alone. His file said that he was a solitary human man, who kept his distance from the rest of the Honolu’level Police Department force, and even though Danny wasn’t too keen on taking this case he couldn’t help but feel a bit of kinship with him.

“Well, Mr. McGarrett, it seems your life has come to an all too messy and yet all-too tidy end.” He said cordially to the pale half-face of what appeared to be a human male. Appeared, because on this station there was no truth to appearances. The other half had been blown out by the blaster fire that killed him. “Now, reports indicate that we know who killed you, thanks to you being in comm-link with your son at the time of death. A Mr. Victor Hesse. And there’s even a so-called ‘reasonable explanation’ – because nothing says reasonable like blood feuds and revenge – but there’s some things here that just aren’t adding up for me, like how your killer was already at your home with you tied up when his brother was being hauled on that freighter to Alliance space, so please be patient with me. I like all my ducks in a row before I sign off on any papers. Figuratively speaking, of course.”

Danny knew he sounded a bit callous with the way he was talking to the dead man, but he couldn’t help it. Talking was his coping mechanism, and there were just too many things that were making his hackles rise about this case. He had been assigned it after Meka, his partner, called out sick with a Horont’kini Flu. Which, okay, he’d gotten a few cases on his own before, hell he had the highest solve rate out of the entire HPD, but this was a bit higher profile than normal. Which brought him to another sticking point. He had a high profile case that upper management seemed to want to get a low-profile treatment. 

Now all he had to do was get people to realize there was more going on here than what was being said and get this murder investigation going for real: even though everyone else was interested in doing just about anything and everything BUT actual criminal investigation. 

 

-=5-0=- -=5-0=--=5-0=--=5-0=-

 

Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett walked down the gangplank and into the station. He hadn’t ever thought to be back to the _Oahu Station_ of the Hawai’ian Networks since his dad kicked him out when he was 16. His ears popped with the change in pressure between the _Saratoga_ and the station - a little more sensitive to his partial Jifari physiology than a normal human’s. The smell hit him in the face, so many different flavors of… everything, and most of them disgustingly familiar. This was home, as much as he didn’t want it to be, and as such, there was a tightness in his shoulders he felt automatically relax. He could be free here, if he wanted to. As free as anyone with Jifari blood who remained un-bonded. 

He hadn’t been assigned to the _Saratoga_ for long, so there was no sense of loss at the departure. Truthfully, there wasn’t any place like _Oahu_ for him, and it was only partly because he was of mixed pedigree that stations like this were more natural to him than anywhere else within the Core Alliance. As part Jifari, he could pass as human more easily than most other human/alien crossbreeds. Jifari weren’t that much different on the outside than a standard human. In fact, about the only visible difference were the pointed, elfish ears that Steve had fortunately not inherited. Some said he had better reflexes and over-all flexibility because of his ancestry, but he knew it was all hard work and training. Innate talent meant nothing if you didn’t foster the skills you were born with, and being an eighth Jifari meant one thing. It meant he was seven-eighths human. 

The only things he had really inherited from his ancestors were heightened senses of smell, taste, and hearing, and his low-growling need to find a life-time partner to share the festering mental link he had burning just inside his skull. He didn’t have enough of the Jifari blood in him to have any actual telepathy, but there were parts of it that transcended that ability into something else. Something more. Something less. He had wondered when he was little if he would have inherited that bonding instinct from his ancestors, and the romantic child in him had all but begged for it. Who didn’t want to know immediately who their perfect match might be, who could love them without reservation the way his parents loved each other and never have the problems that some of his friends’ parents seemed to? However, once puberty had set in and this particular problem had come along, it quickly became something he cursed his ancestors for regularly instead.The only relief from that frazzling throb he could get at the time were from drugs that left him in a mental stupor twenty three hours a day, or finding a full blooded Jifari that could shield him. Once it had set in, he had gone about meeting as many people as he could in the hopes that one of them might be the one he could latch onto and use as a focus. The need for that mental link was what had originally driven the Jifari out into the stars, and it was only after that special hell had blossomed in his skull that Steve finally understood why. 

He had tutors early on to help with shielding, and the training he had endured with the Alliance military had also helped, but there was only so much mental frenzy he could box up and contain in his head. Not to mention the added distractions of his other heightened senses. With all the smells around the station, he wondered if he’d even be able to notice a potential mate in the olfactory-based noise. 

It’d be nice. It’d be nice to know that he would find some kind of solace at last. It’d be nice to know he could find a home among all the stars within the universe. But things weren’t always nice for him. Case in point, he had only come back to _Oahu_ to send his father into the sun. As much as Steve would have preferred to have spent the rest of his life never talking to his father, it would have been better to know that his dad was alive and they were just shunning each other.

“Lieutenant Command McGarrett, it is both a pleasure to welcome you home to _Oahu Station_ and a great sadness that it is under such circumstances.” 

Turning to look at the speaker, he saw a blond Matron of the Felidix race. “And you are?”

Steve liked the Felidixes that he had grown up with as much as any other species.He had always been fascinated with what they could and couldn’t do. For instance, as a species, they usually stood on two legs, with a tail behind to help balance when they sometimes switched to four. They could surf the waves of _Oahu_ ’s self-contained ocean, but most preferred to stay closer to the walls and to the heat of the engine rooms. They also tended to be cagey and coy, just like the cats they resembled. 

This particular Felidix had golden fur, slightly striped with tan, but it was the marks in her ear that gave away her station within the local matriarchal society. Felidixes had a very structured society, with a head matron in charge of each house. Sometimes the houses would go to war with each other to battle out for resources, but for the longest time the only way they waged war was with political maneuvering. The notches on their ears were purely symbolic. 

“I’m Pat Jameson, and a friend of your father’s.” She said with a slight nod of her head and a flick of her ears. “I’m also the Governor of the Hawai’ian Networks.”

“Ma’am.” Steve returned with a tip of his hat, not a salute as he felt a civilian didn’t deserve that kind of honor. The closer he came to her, the easier it was to pick her scent out from the rest of the station, and his nose twitched from her spicy musk. 

“Would you care to walk with me to the release station,” she did not quite ask as she turned towards the welcoming kiosk between the docks and the rest of the station. 

“I take it you have a reason for meeting me here other than to welcome the son of a friend?” Steve asked, not bothering with pleasantries. Honestly, he didn’t care. As soon as he found out more about his father’s murder, he was going to return to the Alliance’s cool embrace. He might not have a family anymore, and he doubted he’d ever have a bonded mate, but he could have his rank and he could have his brothers-in-arms within the Elite of Alliance Core: The Alliance’s Navy SEALS. 

“I know your record, McGarrett.” Jameson said, using his family’s name. “You are a highly decorated war-veteran who is no-nonsense, and someone who can get even the shittiest of jobs taken care of. I know you are here to take care of your father’s remains, but there is nothing is wrong with keeping your options open. And I’m here to make you an offer.”

“An offer I can’t refuse?” Steve snorted. “I’m sorry, but I’ve heard that line before. And it has never been funny.”

“Oh, this has nothing to do with being funny. But it does have to deal with getting justice done.” She replied in a purr. “At any cost. I can help you find this son-of-a-bitch, with full immunity and means to do whatever needs to be done. Set you up with a task force that you design and you manage. It will have blanket authority to go after guys like Hesse, and you will get them off my stations and out of my Network. Your rules, my backing, no red tape. And I promise you, Commander, what you see with me is what you get.”

Steve paused long enough to give her the opportunity to say her piece. When she was done, he shook his head with a slight smile. “I’m only here to take care of my father’s remains. There’s nothing left on this station, or even in this system, for me. So, thank you for the offer, as generous as it is, but I’m going to pass.”

“Well, here is my number.” She said as she sent him her information with just a few taps on her wrist-guard. “Contact me if you change your mind.” 

As she walked away, Steve caught the eyes of a slightly familiar face. He nodded to him with a guarded stance. “I’d be careful of that one. She’s a sharp one, and I’m not just talking about her claws.”

Steve looked the other man over and knew that there was something more than just familiar to him. “I know you.”

“I sure hope so. I was your father’s partner for five years.” The Asian human said with a wry smile. “And that was after you had already broken my record in football at Kukui High.” 

“Chin Ho Kelly.” Steve laughed as the name and face finally clicked together. “It’s nice to see at least one familiar face around these parts.”

“I’m surprised you remember me at all,” Chin said with a wide smile as he reached his hand forward. “It’s been a long time.” 

“More years than I like to think about.”

“As I said, a long time.”

Steve pulled Chin in for a quick hug, inhaling his scent but finding no solace in it. “How are you?”

“I am as I am.” He said with a casual shrug as he pulled away. “I’m sorry to hear about your dad, though. He was a good man.”

“Yeah.” Steve replied quietly, thinking to the way his father had pretty much tossed him and his sister out the door without so much of an explanation after their mother died. That had been the beginning of the great riff between him and his sister. Steve knew he blamed his father for a lot of things, but even so…. “He didn’t deserve to die like this.”

“You shouldn’t have been witness to it over a comm-system.” 

“I’d rather be witness to it than… not to know.”

Chin nodded his head in agreement.

“Where are you on the investigation?” Steve asked.

“They.” Chin corrected quietly. “I’m not part of the HPD any more.”

“What happened?”

“Oh, well, you know. Let’s just say we had a parting of ways and leave it at that.” Chin replied with a grimace. “It’s ancient history. And not something we should dwell on. As for your father… from what I know, there’s a haole in charge of the investigation.”

“What?” 

“From what I’ve heard, he’s got a good solve rate, but…”

“He’s got no connections.” Steve replied as he looked around the docking area. The walls were carved smooth, and metal lined the floor and ceiling with artistic styling blending between the different surfaces. Off to the far side, one of the many, many river tubes filled with aquatic life flowed in their own universe. “How is he still alive and not… eaten?”

“Wish I could tell you, but we haven’t exactly crossed paths.”

“So, if you’re not with the HPD any more, what are you doing these days?”

“Mainly playing security for a tourist shop, but it pays the bills.”

“Your family still doing well?”

Before the other man could answer, a sharp yell caught both of their attention. Chin looked over his shoulder at a young woman waving at him. “Listen, Steve, I’d love to catch up, but the boss lady is having issues.”

“Maybe later?”

“Sure, sure.” Chin agreed easily. “Hey, if you need anything, just anything, let me know. Even if I don’t know, I can find someone who does.” 

“Careful, brah, I may just take you up on that.” Steve said with a grin, shaking his hand one more time. He watched the other man return to his duties before heading in the direction of his family home. It really had been a long time since he had been back to this station.

And yet, for all the time away, things remained pretty much the same. Really, it was the smells that lingered in his nose, tracing over his tongue as if he could taste each memory and trade it for reality. In all the parsecs of space, there wasn’t any place quite like _Oahu_ , or even the Hawaiian Networks. 

He rented a hover-car easily enough, dropped off his things at his hotel, and then began cruising around the station. Steve soaked up the atmosphere, thirsty for it in a way he hadn’t realized he could be. After his father had thrown them out, Steve had been left feeling torn about his home. Now that his father was gone… well, he knew he needed to get as much of it in his system as he could because there really wasn’t a reason to ever come back now. With that in mind, he decided that it was finally time to go back to where this all began.

His family’s home. Or, rather, his father’s. 

Steve easily slipped past the yellow warning crime scene light. He had little hope that the access code remained the same after all the years, but surprisingly enough, it did. Even without looking for it, he could smell the blood and bodily fluids from where he stood at the entranceway. He gave a full body twitch before gathering everything that made him one of the Alliance’s Elite SEALs. He needed to do this. He needed to figure out what his father had been trying to tell him before he was murdered. 

He went through the main rooms as carefully as he could, touching and listening for anything that might give away something out of the ordinary. The home had actually been carved into one of the mid-level caves over looking the North Shore, and had several bedrooms. There were pictures of Steve on the smooth, stone wall as well as Mary, his sister, and then there were pictures of the two of them with their parents. It seemed so… surreal. He went to the back door and saw the lanai that overlooked the water. If it weren’t for the smells of death in his father’s home he could almost imagine that he was sixteen again and it was just an usually quiet day in the house.

With a sigh of determination, he turned back to the task at hand. The last place to look was the garage where his father had often gone to vent his frustrations by working on his antique hover-car. That’s where he found his father’s toolbox, cleverly named CHAMP. 

That was also when he heard the front door open. 

As soon as Steve heard the other person in his father’s home, he knew he was in trouble. As soon as he smelled the other man come into the garage - the musky, comforting smell of soft fruits, fried pastries, coffee and blaster powder - the stranger caused an interesting zing to spike through his skull, leaving things quiet for the first time since his hormones had decided to wake up his ancestor’s curse. That spelled a kind of trouble a guy like him really, really didn’t need to be in. Staring down the barrel of a gun, with his own gun drawn, all Steve knew was that he was so deep in trouble that he doubted even a black hole could pull him out. Because the other guy, this stranger in his father’s home, in HIS home, was human, pure human by the look of him, and there was no way this was really happening. 

“Draw our ID at the same time?” 

“Are you fu-Are you serious?” The man said.

Steve nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak for a moment. The unexpected silence in his skull was… unnerving. Fantastic, but unnerving. Really, though, it was the smell. So… amazing and warm. He wanted to put his gun down and move over to the other man. Wanted to touch him. Wanted to taste him to get that smell in his mouth, wanted to find out what that silence tasted like. “On the count of three.”

“One.” They both removed one hand from their guns.

“Two.” They both reached for their wallets.

“Three.” They brought their wallets out and opened them to show their identification.

Station Security Agent Inspector Daniel Williams sighed, but did not put down his gun, and Steve felt a lump form in his throat because it was both heartwarming to see someone else defend his family’s property but also because they were both about to do something stupid. “I’m sorry, Lt. Cmd. McGarrett for your loss. But this is an active crime scene and you can’t be here.”

As much as he wanted to keep the good security agent close, Steve knew that the only way he was going to get to the bottom of his father’s murder was to figure out what the old man’s last words meant. What was he trying to tell him? And he sure as hell wasn’t going to be able to do that with… such an impressive distraction around him. ‘Can his shirt get any tighter? Fuck, but I want… I want. That’s enough of a problem right there.’ Cursing his mingled heritage, even if it was only an eighth, Steve looked the other man over one more time before casting any chance of long term solace out the door. He grabbed the only clue that mattered to him and made to turn towards the exit. “Alright then, I’ll just be leaving.”

“Without the box.”

“I came with the box.”

“Looking at the dust print, I’d say you didn’t. Leave the box, McGarrett.” Williams growled, his gun still holding steady.

“Are you going to call back-up?” Steve challenged, trying wildly to think of a way to get this under his control. He licked his lips as he continued to look over the other male. He could take him. Could easily disarm him, pin his arms, but that just brought to mind- 

“No. An ambulance!” Williams shot back. 

‘I can respect that.’ Steve thought internally before getting an idea. An idea that had his insides quivering and his cock twitching in his pants. Could he do this? Could he give up his career and his life in order to… in order to have a real life and a future? “You’re not going to give this up without someone higher up giving you orders, are you?”

“That’s the general idea, yeah. Since I’m the investigating officer and this is an active crime scene. I could, if I wanted to, have you arrested for tampering with evidence.”

Steve nodded his head decisively before he threw out his portable ringer and called up his father’s old friend. If taking a deal from a devil meant he could get his father’s killer faster and maybe hang around to see what he could find out about Williams later, well, he was willing to bite. “Hello, Jameson. About that offer you had… I think I just found something worth staying for. Your offer still stands? Because if so, how about now? I’ll forward my information to the Alliance and ask for a transfer to the reserves the second you instate me.” 

Less than ten minutes later, he was leaving his father’s homestead and his potential mate behind. For now. There would be an opportunity to find the man and deal with his father’s home later. 

He wasn’t sure if the mental storm that came afterwards was due to the headache of trying to find Victor Hesse or to the lack of Williams in his life, but he knew that the more the storm raged, the more he deserved it. 

 

-=5-0=- -=5-0=--=5-0=--=5-0=-

 

Danny paced the tiny confines of his domicile while outside his locked doors the hallways were awash in ANOTHER downpour from faulty environmental controls. Sometimes he thought they did it on purpose just to fuck with him. Just to make his already shitty days somehow worse. 

And it worked, too! Every. Damn. Time!

With a sigh that came straight from his gut, Danny threw back his head and stared at the stained and unforgiving ceiling. His case! His case was stolen right out from under him and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it because that was the Governor getting her way. How unfortunate that this wasn’t a damn Felidix Pride and she could just lord over everyone within the eight stations! 

A chime outside his door alerted him that someone was approaching. There was no knock, no further chime. Instead, Lt. Cmd. McGarrett just came into his apartment with what could only be the data file on his father’s murder. 

“Is this really your home?” He asked as he came into the small, cluttered space.

With unashamed eyes, Danny looked at the piles of his laundry scattered across the floor and bed, and the data-pads that were balanced on cups and piles of other things because there wasn’t room to really do more than sleep, eat, and pace in the place. The uneven and rough walls were stained by something he had no idea what it might have been. He had no idea what happened before he arrived, and was totally okay with that. But really it was all about the shag carpet, because, seriously? Shag carpeting? Unfortunately, when he had tried to pull it up, he only to find worse things beneath. Living as far away from the water tubes and beaches as he did for affordability reasons meant he lived in some of the rougher, both figuratively and literally, part of town. It was awful, but with his pay and with his lack of connections, he couldn’t get anything better. “I wouldn’t call it home, necessarily, but since these are my clothes are all over the place, I HOPE that this is my place. Otherwise, there is going to be one seriously pissed off tenant coming in here any moment.” 

“That your daughter?” McGarrett asked, spotting the picture of Gracie that Danny had hung with prominence over on the only clean, flat wall.

“Great detective work there, Commander.”

“You let her stay here?”

“HEY!” Danny yelled, immediately prickled. “Who are you, Nanny-Nine-One-One? You do not get to ask about my daughter, mister. I don’t care who you are or who you know.” 

“I swung by your precinct earlier and found out you put out a tab on a guy named Doran this morning.” McGarrett jumped topics as he continued to look around the small domicile, a frown carved into his face. “Why?”

For a flash, Danny wondered what the man would look like if he smiled, but it was a spark of a thought he quickly pushed to the side. And he needed the other man to leave STAT because it was getting far too claustrophobic inside his place with such a… larger person there. He and Gracie didn’t take up nearly as much space. 

“The gun that killed your father had blast marks that trace back to modifications that Doran is known to do.” Danny said with a shrug. He tried to step away from the other man, but there really wasn’t any place he could move to other than sitting on the bed. And that so wasn’t happening. McGarrett already had a height advantage, he wasn’t about to give him more of one. 

“Why not just put traces on his entire home?”

“We can put traces on his calls, but that’s about it right now. Putting a tracer on his entire place would tip him off too much and cause him to flee into the winds. He’s very mobile and agile, moving through the caverns around here.” Danny replied as he ran a hand over his hair, making sure it was still in place. “He’s too well in the know around here, and he’s learned this place better than some of the natives, and I’m… not.” 

“Yeah, with you being a haole-“

“Yes, a fact for which I am eternally grateful, mind you. The natives here are crazy.” 

“I’m a native!”

“And I’m sure you are entirely sane, what with you stealing my case without so much as any idea of what it actually takes to do detective work.” Danny shot back, which made McGarrett smirk which in turn just infuriated him more. Did this asshole really believe him to be so incompetent that he wouldn’t or couldn’t solve this case? Really?

“We’re not crazy. We just process a little differently.” McGarrett nodded his head as he pursed his lips. “Grab your badge. Let’s go find this Doran. You said you know where he is, so we’ll start there.”

“Grab my- Are you serious? He’s a suspected gun-runner which means he’s heavily armed and extremely dangerous. We don’t just go over this his home with only two moderately armed individuals, one of whom I might remind you is not even a police officer but is instead a deputized vigilante, and go up to his door to bust his chops.” Danny stuttered, his voice rising as he continued to rant. He waved his arms for emphasis, but noticed that the other man wasn’t tracking. In fact, McGarrett seemed to be a bit fixated on his chest. Self-consciously, Danny ran his hand over his shirt to smooth over wrinkles that might be there. “Also? Did you forget that you, and I want to re-iterate YOU, took this case away from me. I am no longer involved in this case. I am involved in a stack of other cases that are sitting on my desk back at the precinct.”

“And the Governor gave me jurisdiction, which means I have permission to collect any information, tool, or person that I might need to get the job done, no questions asked.” McGarrett said as he tried to herd Danny to the door. “And that means you. So c’mon, let’s go!” 

Unfortunately, Danny remembered that part of the conversation he had been witness to earlier. In fact, his voice confirmation of the proceedings along with the Governor’s assistant was listed as witnesses to the notarized contract. So, really, he had very little wiggle room out of this presently. Presently. The future, though, that was an uncertain thing. “I hate you, you know that, right? Its guys like you that think they can do everything better, and that only makes my job and my LIFE harder.”

“You’ve got no choice, Inspector. I’m making you my partner. We’ll be great together.” McGarrett replied with utter conviction. “Just you wait and see.” 

With only a small amount of grumbling, Danny did indeed grab his gun, badge, and wallet. He twirled the keys to his car as he heard the door to his domicile click locked behind him, pleased to see that the corridor was only soggy and not filled with water falling from the ceiling. The area outside his home was mostly bedrock with doorways highlighting the scattered homes. Though the walls of this cavern only extended a hundred yards up, in some areas of the asteroid, the ceiling was a good mile or more. In those areas, clouds – actual, honest to goodness clouds – formed. But here? Danny had no idea where the precipitation came from or why the puddles formed small rivers that always flowed in the same direction. 

“This yours?” McGarrett asked, pointing to a sleek, silver hover-car that appeared to be more for sport than for regular police work. 

“Yes, it is.”

“Can I drive it?”

“You just got out of dry-dock and I doubt you’ve slept all that much since your father’s murder, so until I know that you are working at full speed and not suffering from sleep deprivation, the answer is a resounding NO.” Danny said as he opened the driver side door. “It’s bad enough that you’ve me charging after a suspected gun-runner without even a ‘Hello, how are you.’” 

Danny had driven the pathways around Doran’s hiding spot before. Sometimes to bust other criminals, sometimes just so he knew the area he would eventually be staking out. It wasn’t a long drive, but it was rather boring with the same kind of lush, green and gold scenery everywhere that wasn’t rock. He preferred ships where you could actually see people going about their lives. Sure, traffic tended to be on the nightmare side of things, but that fuzzy-buzzing from earlier was just as strong if not stronger now that he was trapped in his hover-car, which could only mean that it was coming from McGarrett.

“So, how long have you been stationed here, Inspector Williams?” McGarrett asked, his knee noticeably bouncing.

“Call me Danny. And I’ve been on this pineapple infested rock for six months now.” Danny replied as he glanced over at his passenger. “Which you should know if you bothered to take even the barest looks at my personnel file before commandeering me.” 

“Call me Steve. And I might have peeked at your file.”

“Peeked?” Danny asked with amusement. He could feel himself relaxing more and more with this guy, and he wasn’t sure that was entirely a good thing.

“Peeked.” 

His phone suddenly buzzed with ominous music. Without even bothering to answer it, he clicked the ignore switch.

“That your ex-wife?”

“Yes.”

“I take it your marriage didn’t end well.”

“No. It didn’t.” Danny was silent a moment as he did his best to unclench his jaw at even the merest mention of his divorce. This… this was actually a sore subject with him, and he knew it, but that didn’t stop his blood pressure from jack-knifing all the way to critical levels. He loved Rachel, really he did, but he hated her just as passionately for what she did to him. “Which, you know, okay, a lot of people have messy divorces and ours was no exception, but the thing of it is, really, is that, if she had just stayed on the _Newark_ – or hell, just let me keep partial custody of my daughter – things would be different. But no. She had to remarry some ass-hat and move to this hellhole in the middle of nowhere space with our daughter who I only get every other weekend and a few hours a week!”

After a beat, where Danny just tried to catch his breath and calm his blood pressure, Steve asked with earnest curiosity, “You don’t like it here?”

“No, I don’t like it here.” 

“How can you not like it here?” Steve asked. He twisted in his seat to look at Danny and spread his hands out. “Where else in the seven systems are you going to find any place with beaches like the Hawaiian Networks beside planet-side?”

“I don’t like the beach.”

“You don’t like the beach?”

“I don’t like the beach.” Danny reiterated.

“How can you not like the beach? People spend entire fortunes trying to get to places with beaches.”

“I like ship-life. I like regulated temperatures, smooth sailing without daily asteroid collisions, and knowing that I don’t have to worry about jellyfish or sharks – which, I still don’t understand why they were imported here.”

“Ecosystems are very delicate; we wanted to preserve them in their entirety. Besides, the sharks were endangered and at least here they have a chance to sustain themselves. Who knows when we might regret letting them go extinct.” Steve explained matter-of-factly, as if this was some sort of science lesson. “But seriously. You don’t like the beach? Tell me you can swim.”

“Can I swim?”

“You can’t swim!” Steve laughed at him.

“Of course I can swim!” Danny shot back, exasperated. “But I swim for survival, not for fun!”

Steve was still laughing when the phone went off again. Rolling his eyes, Danny put the receiver in his ear for a lovely – and wasn’t that just the most sarcastic word in the human language - conversation and answered the call. Obviously, Rachel had another fantastic idea on how to rob him of his daughter yet again. “Yes dear?”

“Danno?” Came the sweetest sounding voice Danny had ever heard, causing him to smile without thinking about it.

“Heeeyyyyy, Butterfly!” He chirped back at her. He spent the next ten minutes talking with his daughter about her schooling and about a particular boy in class who was picking on her - and could he be arrested for picking on her – as well as all things show-and-tell related. He felt his heart swell as she told him about the spelling test that she had coming up and about a field trip to one of the local museums about the dual cultures of the symbiotic Horont’kini species and could he be her chaperone? He made no promises, except he did promise to do a background check on Jimmy – who seemed to have no last name at present time – but he did want to go to the museum with her. By the time he drove up to the shack-town where Doran lived, he was hanging up the call. “Hey, Monkey, just remember something for me.”

“Yeah?”

“Danno loves you.”

“I love you too, Danno.” She chirped back before the call went dead. 

Still smiling and relaxed, Danny turned to see Steve staring at him oddly. His good mood souring, he frowned at the other man. “What?”

“Danno?”

“Don’t even go there.” 

“What, can’t I ask?”

“No. You can’t. And also? We’re here.”

Steve pouted at him for a moment before stepping out of the car. 

The air felt hot and muggy against Danny’s skin, but that was pretty much the way most of the asteroid felt to him. His partner had told him that he would acclimate, but he wasn’t so sure about that. There were some things a guy just couldn’t get used to. 

“Okay, our guy is a shooter with weapons that are above your average pay grade-“ Danny began as he noticed Steve pulling out his weapon. “I don’t think this is a good idea. Especially without back-up.”

“You are the back-up.” Steve replied with a crazed grin.

“I am the back-up he says. I hate him. I hate him so much.” Danny huffed as he pulled out his own gun and took up a position that gave him at least a little cover – hopefully – and still managed to offer a little cover for Steve. 

Steve looked over at him and gave him a slight nod even as he reached for the exposed wires of the door panel. 

“Fred Duran, open up! This is-“

That really was about the time that things went from crazy to down right stupid and lethal. 

Forty minutes, one slightly bloody-by-way-of-blaster-graze arm, three stitches in his hand from where a junkie snake-head whore bit him, several expended rounds, one rescued Felidix refugee, and one dead Doran later, Danny was getting back into his car, fuming. 

Mr. Super-SEAL had decided that actual raiding a trigger-happy weapon’s dealer’s home would be a Good Idea. That had been Steve’s first miscalculation to his own self-preservation. Steve’s second miscalculation with regard to his survival had been to run after said gun-runner. If it hadn’t have been for Danny killing Doran, Steve would have been the one heading to the coroner’s office. And in thanks, Steve’s best idea – really the best – was to stand there and yell at Danny as Danny was sitting in the back of an ambulance getting his arm treated to after having been shot in the first salvo with Doran.

When Danny tried to yell back, McGarrett got him in an arm lock that pulled on those nice, new stitches. Really, it was only logical that upon his release, Danny hauled back and punched Steve square in the jaw.

And how fitting was it that the man’s hard head extended to his jaw?

Letting the Alliance authorities take over the case of the refugee, Danny waited for Steve to get in the car. Every minute that the other man delayed, the angrier and more upset that Danny got. Finally, after epic amounts of delays and talking and barking orders and translating for the various species that had descended upon their little crime scene, Steve got in the hover-car. 

Keeping his eyes looking straight forward, Danny waited. 

“We should go to the dry-docks. An old friend of mine works there. He might be able to help us find a lead on the slaver angle.”

Danny took a deep breath to calm himself, opened his mouth… and nothing. Nothing. Because he knew that A – if he started he wouldn’t be able to stop. And B – Nothing he said or did would get any kind of actual, reasonable human emotion from the man beside him. So, instead of getting an apology or any other kind of sympathy, Danny got orders. Fine. He could deal with orders. He could be the asshole’s chauffer. Closing his mouth, Danny turned the ignition to the car and peeled out of the area. 

Oh, this was just going to be all kinds of fun and games for him. He just hoped he survived it without having a heart attack or a stroke. Yeah. His life? His life was like a giant bag of pixie-sticks: all sweetness, no flavor, and able to kill him if he enjoy too much of it. 

It just couldn’t get any better than this.

 

-=5-0=- -=5-0=--=5-0=--=5-0=-

 

Coming down from the adrenaline high of a shoot out, a shout out, and a fist fight, Steve could feel the sting in his jaw as well as all the bruises and minor cuts he got chasing after Doran. Normally, he would have felt the onslaught from his senses spiking around him as the inner predator of the Jifari blood sang sweetly in his veins for some time afterwards, but since he was sitting somewhat comfortably next to Danny, his blood was cooling at and his headache was receding. In fact, aside from the physical aches from going after Doran, all he could feel was the tension practically radiating off of the detective. 

It took him a moment to think of how to diffuse the situation. He licked his lips before he glanced over at the blond man sitting beside him and asked, “How’s the arm?”

“Let’s just not talk.”

“You mean right now or ever again?” Steve asked, his pulse picking up again. Ever since he had walked into the precinct that morning, strictly to go collect more information and start the set up of his nice, new shiny task force and NOT to hover around and search through the desk of one Inspector Williams, his mind continued to loop back to the man. And walking into Danny’s home had been… There had been this smell, this lingering aroma of another Jifari hidden in the upholstery and on the walls and it drove something inside of Steve INSANE to think that there might be a threat to what was his, never mind that Danny wasn’t exactly his. ‘Yet’ a persistent part of his mind whispered to him. 

“Just both, okay?”

And yet, here Danny was. “You know, I think I – I think I might know why your wife left you.”

“Oh really?” Danny snapped.

“Yeah.” Steve said with a nod, fighting like hell to hide his smile. “You’re very sensitive.”

“I’m sensitive, huh? You think I’m sensitive? When did you come to the conclusion that I was sensitive, huh? Was it when a bullet was tearing through my flesh, is that when I seemed sensitive to you?” Danny asked, taking his hand off the wheel and his attention off the road. “Listen. I am really happy that you are not afraid of anything, okay? I’m glad that you have that G.I. Joe thousand-yard stare from chasing terrorists around the seven systems, okay? But in civilized society we have rules. It is the unspoken glue that separates us from tudlarfac and quibquibs!”

“Tudlarfac and quibquibs?” Steve asked, thinking of the two separate intelligent insectoid creatures that each had hive-minds and inhabited separate sectors of space. Neither had space travel yet, but both were being watched for future potential. 

“Yeah, Cultural Studies Channel, whatever!” Danny said, with his cheeks darkening to a lovely shade of pink. Steve could smell the increase in Danny’s scent as his body heat scorched the interior of the vehicle. He wanted… he wanted to roll in it. Wanted to peel Danny out of his clothes and just LICK that scent off of him and mark him as belonging to Steve and Steve alone and that was dangerous. So very dangerous. Completely unaware of Steve’s inner struggle, Danny continued, “The point is when you get somebody shot, you apologize!”

“I’m sorry.” 

“You don’t wait for a special occasion-“

“I’m sorry.” 

“-like birthdays or Coronation Days or whatever!”

“I’m sorry. Hey, I’m sorry. I said I’m sorry. I’m sincerely sorry. That’s what I was trying to say last year when this conversation first started.” Steve said. If nothing else was said about this potential union – and really, there was only the potential right now – there was defiantly a hint of fun to it. Danny was a livewire it seemed and it thrilled Steve because this… this was something special. Something exciting. Steve liked exciting. Liked it a lot, actually. Then there was the fact that the longer he was around Danny, the more his senses turned on, and the larger the world became even as it made more sense to him. Steve had no idea how it worked, but it did and it felt… amazing and liberating and excruciating at the same time. Having gone through the fire-fight with such clarity and precision, he couldn’t even think about what it would be like to have to deal with the static of his own head if Danny ever left his side.

“Your, uh, apology is noted.” Danny replied mulishly, putting both hands back on the wheel. “Acceptance is pending.” 

“Good.” Steve nodded, turning back to watch the scenery pass them by. “Good.” 

After that, getting Chin to come aboard – after learning that he had been chased out of the HPD for allegedly taking payouts and, really, if he had, why was he working security for a tourist trap? – and then dealing with the unsightliness of getting Chin’s informant to help seemed so much easier than figuring out what he was supposed to do with all of his burning need to be as close to Danny as possible. The desire to touch him, to unbutton his shirt to get to more of his skin, was almost a physical burn beneath his fingertips. He kept his hands to himself, though, wrapped firmly around a crushed ice drink he could barely taste and kept his thoughts hidden behind dimmer-glasses in case he was caught staring too much. Even so, Steve almost enjoyed himself through it all because Danny brought so much fire to every discussion he was part of. 

Steve couldn’t help being enamored by Danny’s sheer, unfiltered passion, even when he pulled out a ginormous stuffed pink unedax – and where the hell did that come from and why was it in the car? – from the back seat of his hover car to give to a little Jifari girl who tried to out them as cops rather than tourists. Not even her scent, not even the subtle ripple from her as she checked them both over with all of her senses, could make him feel any less calm because Danny only saw her as a child and nothing more.

“So, my informant says that the most likely person involved with Doran and slave-shipping would be a snake head named Sang Min.”

“Snake head?” Steve asked.

Chin grimaced before asking Danny. “You know the Horont’kini are actually two species of aliens, yeah?”

“Yes, there’s the outer monstrocity of the Tanairkini, which provide a proverbial and sometimes literal ton of muscle as well as some naturally spiffy armor, and the Horontaka, which are the parasitic brains of the operation.” Danny said as he looked up, as if trying to recite something from a long lost memory. “I believe they’re more amoeba like, since they have no real skeletal system, and are able to slip into the Tanairkini’s system through the enlarged ear canal, especially since the big hoofed demons are all about having the parasites in them since it’s a sign of status or something. The Horontaka enjoy their host bodies because they have all kinds of senses and experience that the average Horontaka can never experience on their own, such as music and chocolate.” 

“That’s… actually right.” Chin said. “And way more than a lot of even locals know about.”

“My partner, Meka, is a Horont’kini. I’ve spoken with both sides upon occasion. His wife is really nice, and another Horont’kini, but the Tanairkini part of her is a MUCH better cook. The Horontaka is too busy trying to experiment, trying to find more things to experience.”

Steve coughed and looked to the side, not enjoying the reminder that Danny was technically on loan and not a permanent fixture in his life just yet. Yet. 

“You know about Snake Heads?”

“Yes, unfortunately.” Danny replied as he ran his hand through his hair.

Chin eyed him skeptically. “Oh? What do you know, then?”

“The Snake Heads are actually a new combination – they’re human and Horontaka.” Danny replied, accepting the challenge. “I’ve met a few, and I’ve investigated some of them for-“

“You’ve met some?” Chin asked.

“Yeah, on C-Level they’re becoming more and more common place.” Danny said. “And both parties are seemingly okay with this. Most of the humans who have psychological issues get very well treated by the Horontaka I’m any judge.”

“Wait, wait, wait… you mean… what’s this gang got going for it?” Steve asked. “And why are they into the slave trade?”

“What better way to find new hosts with new senses and new methods for enjoying life to experience?” Danny asked. “That’s why they’ve started to bond with the humans on C-Level.”

“Well then, we’re going to have to be very careful with how we bring them down.” Steve muttered.

“What about a bit of new bait that they could use?” Danny asked.

“Who? You?”

“Why not? Aren’t I cute enough?”

“Yeah, but this is a small network of colonies and asteroids. Everyone knows everyone’s business. They’d be able to smell a cop, even a former cop, before we walked through the door.” Chin answered.

“Then it would be hard to find someone tough enough to go under for us who isn’t afraid of what might happen afterwards.”

Chin gave a sly smile. “Someone tough and without fear? I think I know the perfect person.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, brah.” Chin said, his smile growing wider and wider the more he thought of it. “And she’s in the process of graduating from the Space Station Agent Academy courses. But she’s too much a rookie to be that well known by most of the people in the precincts.”

“Perfect.” Steve agreed. He saw the worried look Danny through at him, but chose to ignore it. “Let’s have some introductions, shall we?”

“Follow me.” Chin said as he headed his hover-bike, intending to lead them to a private cove.

Walking down the beach with Chin and Danny, feeling the pulverized rock that had been turned into sand shift underneath his feet, Steve could feel his throat tighten with longing. 

Chin pointed out his cousin cutting through the surf of _Oahu_ ’s beautiful ocean. He hadn’t known that she was half Felidix, but her tan, feline coat and human like face gave her away. 

Danny gave a low whistle that had Steve gritting his jaw in protective jealousy even as he lowered his head to watch her above the line of his dimmer-glasses. He wondered if he had any chance to catch Danny’s attention if _Oahu_ had such pretty things just milling about. He wasn’t even sure if Danny was attracted to other males, but… if all things were in alignment, it would be nice. It would be nice to keep Danny close; he’d just need to figure out how.

Chin glared back at them. With a protective streak a mile wide, he warned them. “Choose your next words carefully. Both of you.”

“She’s good.” Danny said with a wide smile. Steve wasn’t sure if Danny actually knew what constituted ‘good’ when it came to surfing, but watching her cut through the waves, the skill she had was obvious.

Chin’s glare turned to slight confusion at the two of them before returning to watch his cousin just as some idiot human knocked into her and stole her wave. “She used to be on the professional surfer, entertaining the tourists that came through, until she blew out her knee during a surprise asteroid collision.”

“That’s a pity.” Danny murmured. “It’s hard to give up your dreams.”

“Yeah, so she had to find something else to do with herself.” Chin agreed. “So, she joined the force, hoping to find a place for herself and to try and clear our family name from the shame I brought to it.”

“You’ve got a lot of family with HPD, though, what’s one more going to do?” Danny asked, turning his attention to Chin.

“Just wait until you meet her. You won’t be asking that for long.” 

She emerged from the water and then she treaded over to the guy who had caused her to spill into the water, her fur soaking and her fluffy tail lashing behind her. She thrust her board into the ground before turning to the guy. “Ho, brah.”

And then she landed one of the most beautiful punches Steve had seen for quite some time. 

“Think twice next time you want to drop in on someone’s wave.”

“Nice.” Danny said with a nod. 

Chin let out a piercing whistle to get her attention, and as soon as she saw him her face lit up with a beautiful smile and even Steve felt something in his heart stutter at the sight. She did catch a man’s attention, that was for sure. 

“Inspector Daniel Williams and Commander Steve McGarrett, this is my cousin, soon to be Rookie of the Year, Kono Kalakaua.” Chin said by way of introduction.

“And it is a pleasure to meet you.” Danny said as he held out his hand.

“You surf, brah?” She asked as she shook his hand and they both shook in greeting.

“Ah, if by surf you mean surf and turf, then yes, I do occasionally enjoy a bit of shellfish with my red meat.” Danny answered even as he held up both hands and took a step back. 

Steve felt relief that when they touched, there was no increase in heart rate or any noticeable change in either of their scents. Small things, really, but they both pointed to an attraction that wasn’t there, which in turn allowed Steve to relax a bit more around the young woman. She wasn’t a threat. Danny wasn’t as interested as Steve feared. 

“Miss Kalakaua,” Steve interjected, stealing her attention. “How do you feel about earning a little extra credit?”

She flicked her eyes over to Chin and saw him give her a slight nod. Her eyes lit up and she flashed him a smile that was pure predator. 

 

-=5-0=- -=5-0=--=5-0=--=5-0=-

 

Danny had never realized how deep he could be in until he looked around the new office space, all the smooth walls and sleek, steal flooring. It almost looked like the interior of an actual Starship, and wasn’t that just so very comforting? He did wonder at how he became the de-facto Office Manager, though, organizing the move of most of the equipment and office furniture into their new digs. Not that he minded all that much; it was loads better than the paperwork he had already submitted regarding the incident in the harbor as well as all the things that the team requested. In fact, he was waiting for the rest of the team to follow suit with the more personal affects that they would need for their desks. 

He tilted his head as he arranged his own desk, making sure to put his daughter’s picture close to the various screens he would be looking at all day. If nothing else, this job had shown him that he needed to take all the enjoyment he could from the small joys life had to offer him as often as he could.

Moving away from his desk caused him to twist his body in a way that his knee did not appreciate. The doctors had told him he’d a torn ACL due to trauma associated with crashing into a slaver ship with only a borrowed hover craft. Danny accepted the diagnosis with a sigh, because, really, the worst part of the whole ramming-of-the-slaver-ship was that now Steve knew the secret behind his daughter’s nick-name for him from him. 

And he used it. 

In public! 

It was a secret between him and his daughter and Steve just decided to co-opt it and use it as his own! 

The worst part, though, by far, by way too far to be measured by special measurements, was that Danny didn’t mind. He didn’t. He didn’t because he thought it was just as cute when Steve said it as when Gracie did. In a way that sort of…. Meant something. Meant something close to family. He knew he had to be out of his mind for him to feel like that.

Grimacing, Danny decided that maybe, at least for a little while, he could sit down and focus solely on the physical world around him. Or, at least, his knee. As his weight came off his knee, he began rubbing it. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

“You okay, Danny?” Steve asked, popping his head into Danny’s office after appearing from nowhere.

“Just berating myself for actually agreeing to transfer to your team and becoming your partner after our last little adventure.” Danny replied as he tried to act natural while rubbing out the pain of his knee. He wasn’t sure how Steve would react to seeing an actual mortal in his presence because the other two members of their little task force were right behind them in taking over the slaver ship. Not that they actually rammed into it, but they were right behind them. 

Steve snorted. “You loved the adrenaline high.”

“But I hate the paperwork.” Danny shot back, thinking that he could maybe sit back without his knee throbbing. Attempting to do so gave him no problems, for which he was very grateful, but it also meant that Steve had turned to look him over again, in that odd way he did. Well, that odd way he did whenever he could, actually. “Which, might I remind you, you still need to turn in.”

“Yes, mom.” Steve said with a roll of his eyes. “By the way, I, uhm…”

Danny looked at him. “What?”

“I, uhm, I have something for you.” 

“Does it explode?” Danny asked with a raised eyebrow and with his arms crossed over his chest. “Because I’ve had enough of explosions.” 

“No, it doesn’t explode.” Steve said, his cheeks darkening as he shifted where he stood. Twisting he pulled out a small chip, a token really, and tossed it to Danny. “It’s a gift certificate for the Pele Garden Hotel. The Little Brother Suite to be exact. For two. Since, you know, you’ve got Grace this weekend, I thought-“

“Thank you.” Danny interjecting, cutting off Steve’s adorable but uncomfortable babbling. It seemed that Steve wasn’t so smooth when he wasn’t trying to hunt someone down. “Really. But I can’t accept this.”

“You don’t want it?” Steve asked with naked hurt in his voice. “I’m sorry, I thought it would be good since your apartment is so-“

“My apartment is… what?” Danny said, stilling. He didn’t like his apartment for various reasons, but also didn’t like other people insulting what was his. Call him old fashioned or whatever, but he made do with what he had and he wasn’t about to be insulted for having less than someone else.

“Small. Your apartment is small.” Steve finished lamely. “And, I thought it’d be good for you and Grace to have a larger space to spend your time in. That’s all.”

“Ah, well, thank you. Again.” Danny replied, running one hand through his slicked back hair. “But, like I said, we can’t accept it.”

“Oh.” Steve said, obviously hurt.

“You see,” Danny informed him, flipping the token across his knuckles. “Grace is part Thasian. She’s my little butterfly because she actually has butterfly wings. Her mother, my ex, is full blooded Thasian. The Palace doesn’t really cater to… their kind. To put it mildly.”

“Oh.” Steve said, perking up even as he leaned back onto the doorway, folding his hands and arms behind him. “How did you end up married to a Thasian?”

“She broke into my hotel room after a late night at a bachelorette party, thinking it was hers.” Danny said with a laugh. “After showing her that it wasn’t, and being the gentleman I am, I let her sleep off her stupor on the bed while I took the couch that was in the room. Next morning, fully hung over, she felt so distressed that she offered to take me out to breakfast, only to remember she had a meeting. So we made it dinner instead, and one thing led to another…” 

“And eventually marriage and kid.” Steve added quietly.

“Yeah, Grace… She’s the best thing that ever happened to me, you know.”

“Well, maybe we can change that.” Steve supplied. “Or, at least give her some competition.”

“You would have to be pretty damn amazing to do that.”

“Well, I don’t like to brag… But I’ve been told I am exactly that.” Steve smiled wickedly and for a moment Danny thought the guy was actually, obviously flirting with him.

Danny shook his head and tried to chase away the blush that was starting to color his cheeks. “You, my friend, are nothing but trouble. Big trouble.”

The laughed together at that, because they both knew it was true.

“So, what about you? What deep dark secret from your past can you share with me?”

Steve blinked at him for a moment, his cheeks darkening further. “Well… I don’t know about deep, dark secrets, but… your daughter isn’t the only one on this station that has places that can’t be visited.”

“Oh?”

“I’m an eighth Jifari.” 

Danny blinked, completely taken aback. He hadn’t suspected the man of being anything other than human. Granted, a super-soldier by easy measure, but still. Human. “An eighth?”

“It means I’m still mostly human.” Steve defended. “But, I’ve got an over active sense of smell, taste, and hearing.”

“So, engineering is out for you.”

“Mostly, yeah. And the bilge.” 

Danny wrinkled his nose because, yeah, even without heightened sense of smell, the sewer system was on the ranker side of vile. “Wish I could say that it’s out for me, but I know that’s just wishful thinking. Anything else?”

“Just the same… mating imperative that most Jifari have.”

“Right, so when you go off course while chasing down a suspect, it’s just in your genes?”

“Won’t happen.” Steve replied adamantly. “You’re going to find that I’m either by your side or hunting down suspects. I’m not searching for… anything else.”

“But you just said-“

“I’ve lived this long without a… whatever, Danno.” Steve said with a lopsided grin. “I’ve got my training and I’ve got my priorities and I’ve got you as my partner. It’s all I need.”

“Are you sure?”

Steve stared right into his eyes and said definitively, “Positive.”

“Okay then, well, here, you should keep this.”

“No. You keep the token. They’re valid for any time and who knows, maybe you might find you actually want to spend time… in a real bed. It’s good for you and a guest.”

“My bed is just fine!”

“I’ve seen more comfortable floors.” Steve shot back before spinning and laughing out of Danny’s office.

Danny laughed and shook his head again. Oh, he was in so much trouble. So. Very much. Trouble.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes. There is more in the works. Just... working on it! ^_^
> 
> 09.09.12 - I lied. The muse has left me. ;_; Such a fickle beast, that one.


End file.
